A Change in Fate
by Crazycatwin
Summary: AU What if the Persona 3 cast lived the life and story of the Persona 4 cast? Minato Arisato is placed into the foster care of a family in Inaba and has to solve a mysterious murder case. Follows the main storyline with elements of both games thrown in. Characters will act similar, but different too because of their lives being different from the original.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is what I picture the Persona 3 cast being like in the roles of the Persona 4 cast. There will be many similarities, but most of the cast will be replaced. Some won't, as you will see very soon, because I couldn't think of an adequate replacement. Our characters won't be exactly like they were in either game, but they will be similar enough to share the same arcana as them. Some of the Persona 3 cast won't be involved at all and some social links may be from the female route because I want our dear Minato to have bonds with all of his party members. However, if I get enough requests for certain characters, I may give them cameos or slight roles, but they will unlikely replace current social links. You can probably guess where some of the characters fit in, but others will be VERY unexpected. Please read the author's note at the end because it is important. Without further ado, I present to you A Change in Fate.

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"Welcome to the velvet room." Minato is brought to consciousness by a voice. He appears to be in a limousine furnished entirely in blue. The limo is driving on a road that is difficult to see because of the fog. A man with a long nose dressed in a tuxedo was the one who spoke to him. "It seems we have a guest with an intriguing destiny."

"My name is Igor... I am delighted to make your acquaintance. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a "contract" may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future. Now then... Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Minato Arisato." _Play along and maybe the hallucination will go away._

"Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?" A deck of tarot cards materializes onto the table in front of Igor. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" _No, but I'm not going to argue with someone who can stab me with his face._

"Each reading is done with the same cards, but the result is always different. Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?"

A card flips over to reveal... "The Tower in the upright position represents the immediate future. It looks like a terrible catastrophe is imminent." Another card flips in the same way revealing... "The Moon in the upright position. This card represents " hesitation" and "mystery"... Very interesting indeed. It seems you will encounter a misfortune at your destination, and a great mystery will be imposed upon you." Igor pauses for a moment.

"In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny... If the mystery goes unsolved, your future may be forever lost. My duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen." The cards disappear.

"Ah! I have neglected to introduce my assistant to you." He gestures to blonde haired woman to his left. "This is Elizabeth. She is a resident of this place, like myself."

"My name is Elizabeth. It is a pleasure to accompany you on your journey."

Igor speaks up again. "We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell." The room suddenly disappears.

Train station

Minato notices a T.V advertisement. It shows a shirtless man with silver hair hitting a punching bag.

"When I need a boost during my training I always have a muscle drink. Packed with nutrients, it will keep you energized for hours."

Minato walks onto a train while listening to the aimless gossip of those around him. _I don't care about who was cheating on who just get onto the train a little faster, please._

Train near Inaba

"Now approaching Yasoinaba Station. Now approaching Yasoinaba Station." With a groan the train slowed to a stop at the end of the railway.

The blue haired teen sighed. It was his favorite song too. Now he had to turn his headphones off to meet his new "family" for the next year. Foster care was such a pain sometimes. He reluctantly got off the train and decided to take a quick scope of the area. As expected, absolutely nothing.

"Might you be Minato Arisato?" Turning around quickly, our hero spotted a man with light brown hair and glasses wearing a trenchcoat. By his side was girl with darker brown hair tied up in buns wearing a pink shirt and a dark blue skirt.

"I apologize for startling you but you seemed to be lost in thought." The man chuckled lightly. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. Hard to say isn't it? Maiko over here had some trouble in the beginning, but she seems to have mastered my name even better than I have. Say hello Maiko."

"Your hair is a funny color, why?" This burning question was clearly much more important than formalities to pretty much any second grader in the world.

"I don't know. Why do you have brown hair?" Minato followed through with his most comfortable way of treating children, distract them and maybe they'll leave you alone.

"We can discuss how beautiful both your hairs are at a later date, but for now, let's get you settled into your new home. Oh shoot, I just remembered. My car is running low on gas. I hope you don't mind staying up a little longer."

"It doesn't matter to me, but it seems that Maiko-chan is already half-asleep." It was true, though. She looked ready to enter dreamland any minute.

"Am...not." Considering that statement was interrupted by a yawn, neither of them believed her.

At the gas station, Moel

Ikutsuki's car is attended by a long haired man wearing a uniform declaring him as the only person among his coworkers unlucky enough to be forced into having this shift.

"Are we doing the usual, Ikutsuki-san?" The young attendant walks up to the long time customer of Moel Gas Station. Of course, if you own a car and live within a 30-mile radius of Inaba, you already are a customer of Moel by default.

"Yes please. Minato-kun, can you watch Maiko for me? I need to make a business call." Ikutsuki walks to the edge of the station, phone in hand.

"I need to use the bathroom." Maiko states right after Ikutsuki leaves.

"Need me to come with?" Minato asks. It's only polite, after all.

"I'm fine. I know where it is." Maiko walks away, leaving Minato alone with the attendant.

"New in town?" The attendant asks, making small talk.

"Yes," was Minato's oh so eloquent response.

"Sucks that you got stuck in a boring town like this. Aside from schoolwork, there's nothing here for a kid like you. If you don't get a part-time job you'll probably die of boredom. I think we're hiring over here. Check it out if you need money alright?" He holds out his hand.

"I'll think about it," Minato replies shaking hands with him. _Maybe if I say that he'll leave me alone _thought our outgoing and friendly hero.

Suddenly a wave of nausea hit Minato out of nowhere. Halfway to emptying the contents of his stomach, Maiko returns.

"Are you alright? You didn't look this bad a minute ago." When eight year-olds start commenting on your health, that's when you know you aren't doing so hot.

"I'm fine, just tired. Thanks for asking though." Sleep, yes, that sounds nice. Nothing weird ever happens in your sleep. Except the hallucination of a pointy nosed man and his hot attendant in blue limo that he may have had earlier that day. Nothing weird at all.

In front of Ikutsuki residence

Driving up to the house, Minato sees the first glimpses of his new home for the next year. He doesn't really care right now, and his stomach attests to his current thoughts.

"Your room is at the end of the hall on the right side upstairs. You'll be starting school tomorrow, and your uniform is in a box labeled as such. But for now, I think it's time for your welcoming feast. I hope you like take out. My cooking is below average."

"Thank you very much Ikutsuki-san. I really appreciate it."

"Is it takoyaki?" Asked Maiko, "because I'll definitely stay awake for takoyaki."

"Indeed it is Maiko. See isn't your new older sibling already a blessing? Perfect excuse for takoyaki." Ikutsuki delivered with a smile. "Well, dig in." Ikutsuki's phone rings. "Excuse me for a moment." Ikutsuki walks off and returns a short conversation later. "I'm afraid the office needs me. I need to head over there right now. Enjoy the meal without me. Don't stay up too late, and remember, the early bird catches the bookworm." With a slight laugh at his own joke, and Minato resisting the urge to bang his head against the table, Ikutsuki leaves.

"May I check the news, Maiko-chan?"

"Sure, go ahead."

The television flashes to life. "In other news, councilman Taro Namatane was found cheating on his wife with a newscaster named Mayumi Yamano. Both have subsequently lost their jobs and face hostility from all sides. Now a word from our sponsors."

The T.V changes to a shot of a convenience store. A woman voices over. "At Junes, every day is customer appreciation day." She then starts singing. "Every day's great at your Junes." Which then receives an encore by Maiko.

Minato gives her a strange look when she isn't watching, but decides to not to comment.

After dinner in Minato's room

Boxes are stacked in most parts of the room, leaving only a path to the futon. Procrastination now, unpacking later.

_Some nice normality to come with the transfer to a new town. I didn't know that Ikutsuki-san had already decided to take care of another child. At least it will all be normal in my sleep, at least_.

When Minato "awakened" to his dream in a world surrounded by fog and a disembodied voice that was commenting on his ability to see through said fog, he was very excited for school.

A/N: Pretty short,I know, but bear with me. For the sake of ever being able to finish this fic, social links will consist of five scenes instead of ten. Just assume that Minato has bonded with them, except maybe more than one person a day or just for a short time. Igor's lines are taken directly from Persona 4 because I did not want to mess up something so important right off the bat. Here is a big one though.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Before we start I would like to give special thanks to everyone who favorited and followed. I did not think I would get so many follows after just one chapter XD.

This one is pretty short, but I had already planned out the stopping point and I wasn't about to have an awkward ending point.

Yasogami High

After a nice breakfast of toast and eggs and an uneventful walk to school, Minato approached the school office to ask about his class arrangements.

"You must be the transfer student right? I'm Mr. Ekoda, your homeroom teacher. Class is just about to start so come with me to my classroom."

"A new student, huh? Hope it's a pretty girl," announced a cap wearing student.

"In your dreams, Stupei," scoffed a girl who was, for some reason, allowed to wear a pink sweater over her uniform. "From what I've heard, the transfer student is a guy. He's in some sort of foster program."

Before the two could finish their conversation, Mr. Ekoda walked in. Behind him was everyone's favorite androgynous bluenette.

"He's kind of cute," said unimportant student A.

"You sure he's a dude?" Asked unimportant student B.

"I don't even think I would care," responded unimportant student A.

"Quiet down, everyone," interrupted Mr. Ekoda. "This is Minato Arisato. He will be attending this school for the next year. There are more important things than him right now, namely your education. So, get to your seat."

"You never assigned me a seat."

"Looks like this city kid hasn't figured out that when there's an empty desk, you can sit at it. Too bad common sense wasn't part of what your last school taught you, but, if you really need me to guide you through it, there's an empty chair next to Takeba."

"You haven't told me who Takeba is." _Man, what is with this guy? He's either really dumb, or just an asshole._

"Do you really think I need to-" "He meant me." Pretty much everyone in the class was annoyed at this point, so our dear friend in pink decided to end the matter right then and there.

"Fine, whatever. Now stop being a problem."

One boring school day later...

"What do you mean we can't leave?" Whined unimportant student C. "I should have left earlier."

"Anyways, sucks that we got stuck with Ekodick. Isn't high school supposed to be party time? Why do we gotta deal with him?" Complained unimportant student B.

"Did you hear about that announcer lady?" Gossiped A. "Supposedly, she's staying at the Kirijo Inn."

"Come on, you help a man cheat on his wife and then you get to go to one of the nicest inns in the Kirijo chain? That is so not fair," said D in her infinite wisdom.

Suddenly, the intercom system came on. It said that it was OK to leave, but the ambulance sirens in the distance didn't inspire confidence. Just as Minato was getting ready, the boy who sat behind him approached him.

"S'up dude. How's it goin'?"

"Uh, who are you?" _Man, he's talking like we're best friends or something._

"Name's Junpei Iori. I was just checking on you cuz' I know what like it's bein' the new kid and all. I transferred just a few months ago for my dad's work."

"Man, did you already start bothering him on the first day?" The girl who was sitting next to Minato approached the two of them. "I'm Yukari Takeba, by the way. Though you probably won't forget my last name for a while."

"Hey, aren't you doin' the same thing?" Protested the cap wearing teen.

"No, I'm just passing the time since all the clubs were canceled because of that incident. I was going to ask him if he wanted to join Mitsuru and me to bring him around town. We were just going to walk home, but there are plenty of things to show him on the way."

"Dude, you gotta accept. When the two cutest girls in the school just asked to show you around town, you can not say no. Unless you hate your manhood."

"Alright, I'll come."

"Man I wish I could go. Too bad I gotta go to work. Hope you have fun feeding the rumor mill without me."

"In your dreams, Stupei. You weren't even invited anyway."

"Dang, that was harsh, Yuka-tan. Well, see you later dude."

"Mitsuru is a year above us, so I asked her to meet us at the front of the school. Got everything you need?"

"Yeah, let's go."

Outside Yasoinaba High

"Hey Mitsuru." Yukari walks up to a tall redhead wearing the traditional uniform, no sweaters added. Yukari pauses. "What's wrong? Everybody seems to be staring at you, more so than usual anyways."

"Ah, Yukari." The redhead speaks up. "This boy I never met before seems to have asked me out on a date. I said no, of course, but he was rather angry afterwards, and his fit drew attention. I don't believe he even attends our school."

"Oh, uh. Here's the new guy." _Nice save Yukari._

"Nice to meet you, I'm Mitsuru Kirijo." She holds out her hand and shaking ensues. "I'm a year above you, so I guess that makes me your senpai. I hope we can get along."

"She's also the future student council president," chimed in Yukari. "She doesn't want to admit it, but since most the school has openly said they are going to vote for her, it's pretty obvious that she's going to win."

"I see."

Mitsuru sighs. "Shall we be going? My father requested that I come home before dark tonight because he needs to speak with me. I do not wish to dawdle."

Road on the way home

"Even though Mitsuru's family is pretty famous for having a chain of impressive hotels, the one in Inaba is definitely the best. It's one of the only ones with hot springs and it is said to have the friendliest atmosphere. It's also the first one that her family owned, so the nostalgia factor means that the staff puts a lot of work into it."

"Aren't you exaggerating a little bit, Yukari? It isn't really that impressive."

"Come on, if it wasn't impressive, why would both your dad and your grandad have lived here and not one of the larger or grander hotels?"

"I suppose you do have a point," Mitsuru conceded.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" There is a group of people standing around speaking.

"I can't believe that was hanging from a television wire," said gossipy housewife.

"Darn. I wanted to see it too," said housewife that deserves to be punched for stupidity.

"Who would leave a dead body up there?" Asked bland housewife.

"Did she just say dead body?" Asked Yukari alarmed. "Did someone die?"

A policeman walks up to them and requests that they leave. Another cop is emptying his stomach into the bushes.

"So, a dead body was hanging from the wires?" Concluded Mitsuru. "I don't believe that now would be a good time for a leisurely stroll through the city. Perhaps another time?"

"Yeah, I'm not really in the mood after hearing all of that," responded Yukari.

"See you guys tomorrow," said Minato, finally speaking up.

"Bye Minato-kun." "It was a pleasure meeting you."

Ikutsuki residence

Maiko is sitting alone at the table. "Oh you're back. Ikutsuki-san went to go get some food. He came back a while ago and you just missed him."

"I see. What are you watching?"

"The news. Apparently, something happened."_ I guess Maiko doesn't know what happened yet._

The screen flashes to life. "Earlier today, a woman was found dead hanging on a telephone pole in the town of Inaba. She has been identified as the announcer Mayumi Yamano. Police are currently investigating whether it was a homicide or an accident."

"So someone died near your school, huh?" Maiko spoke up. "That's kind of scary." Her voice gets lower the more she talks. Here comes the tension kill, Junes commercial! Followed by the dazzling performance of the lovely Maiko.

"Do you like Junes?" Asked Minato. _Of course she does, but I bet she'd love to talk about it._

Maiko perked up. "I love Junes! They have a playground on the top floor and all sorts of candy you can only get there." She continues to happily talk about Junes with Minato smiling faintly.

A/N: Another chapter finished. I'm pretty sure I know where this story is headed, for the most part at least. The only big problem is Ken. I have no idea what to do with him XD. When in doubt, procrastinate.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Special thanks to guest reviewer. Whether or not I use that idea remains to be seen, but it helped me figure out another problem that I just couldn't think of a solution for. Also, I kind of half-assed check my spelling and grammar last time, so thanks to the reviewer who pointed that out. I skip words a lot. XD

Yasogami High

After another relaxing walk to school and another boring day of somehow raising the knowledge stat, Junpei approaches Minato. Idle conversation ensues until Yukari walks up to the two.

"Hey Yuka-tan, what's up?"

"I came over here to make sure that Minato-kun was doing alright, until I had a great idea." Yukari's innocent smile did not bode well for Junpei. "I thought it would be a good opportunity to cash in that lunch you owe me for letting you borrow my notes, and since I helped you out twice, you were going to pay for both Mitsuru and for me."

"Then where is she? Is she gonna meet us? You don't even know where I was gonna take you!"

"She's pretty busy for the rest of the week. But, she also agreed that no crime should go unpunished for long, and told me to find another way for you to pay me back. So, you're going to treat the new guy too!"

"What? Aw man. You can't just make stuff up on the spot like that. No fair."

"If you don't buy us lunch, I won't let you borrow my notes again." A few minutes later, the three of them went to go get some food. There was simply no other option for Junpei in this case.

Junes food court

"Junes, really Junpei?"

"Come on, lighten up. I'm not getting my next paycheck until a few days from now," Junpei defended. "You could have given me a warning before you start demanding stuff from me."

"Yeah, yeah. You still didn't have to take us to your place."

"His place?"

"My dad got put on charge of this store, so we had to pack up and move over here," Junpei explained. "So why did you get sent to Inaba?"

"The person I'm staying with requested me specifically. He hasn't told me why yet, but he gave me the chance to decline if I didn't want to move to such a different environment than the cities I was used to."

"Why did you say yes?" Asked Yukari. "Couldn't you have just stayed where you were before?"

"My last guardians moved out of the country a little while back, and I was forbidden by some sort of law to go with them. On top of that, Ikutsuki-san, the one who is taking caring of me, agreed that as long as I didn't commit any crimes, I would be allowed to stay for at least an entire school year."

"I guess that makes sense, but don't you want to know why he asked for you?" Questioned Yukari. "That sounds pretty important"

"Not really."

"But- " "Hey, Chidori!" Junpei gets up and approached a red-haired girl in a Junes uniform.

"Not this again," Yukari groaned. "He's so lovesick it's not even funny. She either doesn't notice or doesn't care." Yukari stops for a second. "Oh, that's Chidori Yoshino, she's in our year but not our class."

"Hey Chidori, something awesome happened." Junpei pulls something out of his pocket. "I won these bad boys from listening to a radio station all day. An art exhibition in a city just a couple hours away by train. It's even on a Sunday. Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yes, that's very nice, Junpei-kun, but aren't your friends over there?"

"Come on Chidori, you know I came over here to invite you." Junpei has a hopeful look on his face.

"I can't go." There it goes. "I'm busy next Sunday, but thanks for the invitation. If you'll excuse I must get back to work." Chidori walks away and Junpei walks back to Yukari and Minato with a crestfallen look.

"Man, what did I do wrong? She loves art, and I know her parents don't make her work on Sundays. Wait, what if she's tied up here instead? If she is, I'll just get my dad to change the schedule."

"I don't think that's it. Ask her what's wrong tomorrow, and if she doesn't tell you, figure it out on your own."

"Dang Yuka-tan, that's actually good advice, coming from you."

Yukari scoffs. "Whatever. Let's talk about something other than Junpei's hopeless love life." "Hey!" "This rumor has been going around school that if you look look into a TV at midnight on rainy nights you can see your soulmate."

"That is one of the dumbest things I've heard in a long time. Do you actually believe in that, Yuka-tan?"

"I've never actually seen it happen, so I was going to try it out tonight. Are you scared that you won't see Chidori-san on your TV?"

"Hey, low blow. Well whatever. About that incident yesterday, do you guys think it was murder? Maybe the culprit is in this very room!" Junpei starts laughing.

"You shouldn't make fun of stuff like that," Yukari scolded. "Anyways, you two will try it out at least, right?" Idle chatter continues on for the rest of the afternoon.

Ikutsuki residence

Minato and Maiko are eating dinner at the table. "Ikutsuki-san said he had to organize some of his stuff, so he called and told me there was some food in fridge." Ikutsuki walks in a short while later.

"Sorry I'm a bit late. I realized just as I was getting ready to leave that my desk was a mess. Maiko-chan, could you turn on the news?"

"Here we have the student who found the announcer Mayumi Yamano's dead body." Her face is blurred, but even Minato, who saw her once, can recognize that long, red hair. The reporter asks a multitude of dumb questions and is simultaneously confusing and annoying the student. Also, store owners don't even wait a single day before complaining about how their businesses may be affected. The newscasters make more insensitive and ignorant remarks. Junes, the ultimate enemy to serious conversations everywhere, creeps onto the screen.

"Speaking of which, I think it may be time to stock up groceries," Ikutsuki-san comments. "A little city brand candy wouldn't be out of the question, either. What do you think Maiko?"

Her face lights up. "Yes, thank you so so much! Don't get the sour ones though, but the red ones are really good. Some of the purple candy is good, but some if it is blech."

"I guess you'll just have to show me which purple ones are good and which ones are "blech"." Maiko continues to excitedly talk about all the types of sugar that she wants. _It's like she's on a sugar high, except she doesn't even have the sugar yet._

_Might as well check out that midnight channel thing, even if it's just to keep Yukari from getting mad at me for not making an effort._

*sigh* "It's completely ridiculous. Nothing strange happens at midnight besides my phone changing the date." Clock strikes exactly midnight. The TV turns on. A vague human shape appears through the static.

A pain erupts in Minato's head. He falls to his knees. _I am thou, and thou art I. Thou art the one, who opens the door._

_What the hell just happened? What did that TV do to me? _He taps the screen and it ripples like water. Something drags his whole head in. Panicking, he whips both his arm and his head back. He painfully collides with the table.

Maiko comes outside the door. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just lost my footing." _Actually, my TV tried to drag me inside, but, I like not being called crazy._

"Oh, ok. Please be careful." Maiko walks back to her room. _Just go back to sleep Minato. Sleep doesn't try to kill you, often._

A/N: Next chapter is when it gets really exciting. I'll probably post a new chapter every two days in which I have enough free time, but it'll get better after the school season ends. Thanks to all who managed to read this far, and let me know if there is anything I can improve on.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Sorry this is up a bit later than I had intended. My motivation slowly depleted as Tuesday went on and Wednesday was just bad. I'm sacrificing my chemistry grade for you guys, is what I would say if the test wasn't made so that people could pass it even if they never study. Might have a few mistakes because I wanted to get it out today.

Road to School

"Hey Minato-kun make some room." Yukari slides under his umbrella. "Sorry, mine got caught up in the wind. Hey, you saw the Midnight Channel yesterday right? Freaky stuff. I wanna ask Junpei what he saw." Awkward silence. "We're...kind of close right now."

"I don't mind." Inwardly, Minato is laughing his ass off at her expression. Outwardly, his face is just as stoic as usual.

"You're hilarious, so I bet you could charm someone out of their umbrella." Yukari grabs the umbrella and runs towards the school. Minato is not amused.

After School

"Man, the way they found that body was just gruesome," said Random Girl. "I would hate to be the one who had to see that."

"You don't know? The one who found the body was definitely Yoshino-san," gossiped Other Girl. "How many other redheads do you know with that kind of hair?"

"Hey man, got a sec?" Junpei approaches Minato. " About that Midnight Channel stuff...nah it's not really important."

Yukari walks up to the two. "Did you guys hear? Supposedly, Chidori-san was the one who found the body."

"Of course I know. I think that's why she's not here today. Man, I wonder if that's why doesn't want to go to the art exhibition. She must still be kind of freaked out."

"Worry about your girlfriend later. That freaky stuff last night is way more important right now. It's weird though, the person I saw was a long-haired girl wearing our uniform. She was pretty and all, but soulmate?"

"That kinda sounds like the girl I saw." Junpei pauses. "I bet the girl on my T.V. is prettier than the girl on yours."

"The girl on my T.V. tried to drag me in." They would have laughed, if Minato hadn't sounded so serious.

"Hey, good one man. Just the other day, my gaming system tried to do the same thing. It succeeded, too. Spent three hours wasting away in front of the screen." _ I'm pretty sure our situations are a bit different._

"Speaking of TVs, I've been wanting to check out the ones at Junes for a while now."

"Great idea, Yuka-tan. It'll give this guy a chance to see if any another pretty girls want to "drag him in"."

Yukari sighs. "Everything has to turn into some kind of sick joke with you, doesn't it?"

"And yet, you love me anyways." Minato and Yukari are already walking out the door. "Hey, where ya goin'?"

Junes Electronic Department

"These flat screens are pretty impressive," Yukari comments. "Too bad nobody in this town besides Mitsuru would even think about trying to buy one."

"I think the big question here is how anyone else in this town even owns a T.V.. Do you guys see anywhere else that sells them?" They both ignored Junpei because neither of them really cared.

"Let's go to a section of the store where regular people can afford to buy things." Meanwhile, Minato stares at a T.V. in the middle of the department. _I wonder..._ He puts his hand in and the screen is rippling with black and white.

"Hey what do you think-" Junpei turns to around to see that. "Whoa! What the hell, dude?"

"What are you freaking out about- and his hand is in the T.V.. Cute trick Junpei. How did you do it?"

"I didn't do anything! His hand is actually in the television!" They both crowd around him with surprised looks. _I think I can go in farther than this._ He puts his entire head in.

"Are you crazy?" Junpei starts to panic. "What if someone sees with half your body INSIDE of a T.V.?"

"There's actually a lot of room in here." It's stated so casually that you think he could have been talking about a car, or at least something less crazy than the inside of a television.

"That's what you're focusing on?" Yukari is not doing a very good job of hiding her nerves. Echoing footsteps are heard down the hall.

"Shit, customers. What the hell do we do about this idiot right over here?" When all else fails, panic. That's exactly how all three of them managed to collide and fall into the T.V.. They are dropped from a considerable height.

Mysterious Place

"Ouch, I think I crunched my tailbone," Yukari complains.

"You got off easy. Us guys have more sensitive areas down there." Before Yukari had the chance to respond, Minato speaks up.

"This place appears to be a studio of some sort. But, if it's indoors, why is it so foggy?"

"I dunno, but the bigger question is where the hell did the entrance go?"

"Wait it's gone?" Yukari turns around suddenly. "Oh God."

"No need to panic, just find another exit. If it's a studio somebody must have made it, right? Since there aren't any bodies on the ground, they must have gone somewhere."

"I...guess that makes sense. We should start looking." A short walk later, the trio approaches a building of some sort.

"Don't you guys think this place is a little bit different than before?" notices Yukari.

"I would, if I could see through this damn fog," Junpei complains. "There's a door there, maybe the way out?" The group heads into the room.

"Looks like the fog is gone in here, but still no bars," Junpei comments.

"Slow down you two. Getting separated would be about the worst thing that could happen right now." They finally notice the interior. There are torn posters and what looks like paint seem to be taking up the walls. "It's kind of creepy-Junpei, what are you doing?"

"Hey, I've been holding it in all day, and this place is not good for stress."

"Wait, you're actually serious about this, aren't you?" Yukari looks horrified. "If you pull down your pants, I'm never speaking to you again."

"...Fine..." Junpei narrowly avoided making one of the worst mistakes in his life. "Did you guys get a good look at this room? 'Cause that noose is kind of creeping me out right now. Who would try to hang themselves with a scarf?"

"Let's just get out of here. I feel like I'm about to be sick." The group feels a sudden wave of nausea hit them. After a bit a walking, the group makes it back to the studio.

"So we're back here, but there's still no exit. Wait, what's that in the distance?" A silhouette gets closer and closer to reveal a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, who, to the group at least, is a sexy cosplayer in a robot costume.

"Who are you?" Straight and to the point from our protagonist, unlike the starry-eyed pervert standing a short distance away.

"I am Aigis. I have been here since I have resumed operation." Someone more deadpan than Minato was something no one on the world expected to see.

"Do you know what happened in that room over there?"

"An unknown force has thrown people into this side. I do not know exactly what has occurred."

"Do you know of a way out?" The battle of emotionless delivery is so intense that neither Yukari of Junpei bothered to speak up.

"Primary objective of defeat shadows most likely impossible. Switching to secondary objective of defending humans."

"Wait, humans? What do you mean by that?" Before Junpei could get his answer, the girl named Aigs had already begun to direct them to the TVs that had appeared in the center of the studio. Before anyone else could protest, she had already pushed them through the TVs

A/N: Sorry this isn't the best. I just really wanted to let everyone know who was the inhabitant of the shadow world. Short authors note because I'm going to sleep right about now.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Lol Aquanis, the moment I put Aigis into her place into the story, Minato-ninja was the first thing that came into my head. You are officially awesome. As for Koromaru, his place in this crazy world will be revealed soon enough.

Junes Electronic Department

"Ack!" "Oof!" "Hmph." The trio suddenly lands on the floor.

"We're, back?" Everyone is still disorientated, but Yukari is the first to speak. "I'm glad we're out of that freaky place."

"You're not the only one," adds Junpei. "Man, that was some freaky shit."

"Hey." Minato points to a poster on the wall.

"What do you- hey wait a sec. Ain't those posters that were in that freaky room? They're pictures of Mizuzu Hiiragi. Guess they didn't like her."

"Didn't like her was an understatement. They tore her face out of here posters and fashioned a noose in the room where they had done it." Yukari thinks for a second. "Who would hate her enough to think of suicide because of her?"

"I can think of one person who might, and I don't like where this is goin'. Let's just pretend none of this ever happened."

"Me too. I'm going straight to bed when I get home."

School

Minato ignored the annoying girls who thought that police sirens were interesting rather than a concern. The day started with an assembly. Junpei seems nervous.

"You ok?" Yukari asked. "You don't look so good."

"I got a bad feeling about those sirens, and that Midnight Channel."

"Cheer up. Those sirens could have been the cops chasing after the guy who killed the announcer." Yukari says it, but doesn't even looked convinced herself.

The girl on the podium speaks. "The principal would like to make an announcement."

"I regret to inform you all of terrible news." The principal has a solemn look on his face. "One of our second year students, Chidori Yoshino, has passed away."

"No. You can't be serious." Junpei has a look of horror on his face.

"The reason for her passing is currently being investigated by the police. Please do not disturb them unless you know something that you believe may help them."

The crowd of students erupts into whispers. The principal attempts to quiet them down, but to no avail.

"Chidori-san, why?" Yukari throws a worried glance at Junpei. He looks completely heartbroken.

Gossip confirms that Chidori died the same way as Mayumi Yamano. Someone else claims to have seen her on the Midnight Channel.

Junpei walks up to Minato and Yukari. "Did you guys see the Midnight Channel last night?"

Yukari groans. "Not this again. Now I'm beginning to regret ever telling you."

"Hey, this is serious." Junpei's expression was enough to convince Yukari to hold off on anything else she was planning on saying. "I checked it out again last night, and I think I saw Chidori." Yukari's skeptical glance wasn't helping. "No, I mean it! She was on the screen writhing in pain until it just, stopped, and she was gone."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Remember that weirdo who kept goin' on and on about how Ms. Yamano was his soulmate? Well, that same day, she died."

"Are you trying to say that if someone shows up on the Midnight Channel, they die?" Yukari asks. "That sounds crazy but, it would make some sort of sense."

Minato finally says his piece. "Isn't it suspicious that on the same day as a murder that can possibly be linked to a television program we just happen to fall into a T.V. to discover such a strange place?"

"That exactly what I was thinkin'!" Junpei exclaims. "I mean, that place had death written all over it, particularly Ms. Yamano's. I bet we could find something if we checked it out."

"That sounds like a horrible idea," Yukari deadpans. "Just leave it to the police."

Junpei face contorts into anger. "And what, do nothing? Chidori died, and the police can't do shit!" He suddenly sombers up. "I need to know why she was taken from me."

Yukari quiets down. "I know how you feel, but don't do anything crazy."

"I'm gonna get something. Meet me at Junes." Junpei runs off.

"This is a horrible idea."

"We should go to Junes."

"Alright, even if it's just to snap him out of it."

Junes

Junpei is standing in front of the T.V. with a baseball bat and a rope. "Better than nothing, am I right?"

"You're actually serious about this."

"Yep, see how prepared I am? We got this in the bag." He starts grinning, but he is obviously nervous.

"And Yukari?" Minato asked.

"She can hold the rope." Junpei holds it toward her.

"Now why would I do that?"

"Because he's the one with magical T.V. entering powers, and you're a girl."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It means that it's the job of dashing young men like myself to protect you." All he gets in response is a scoff, because words wouldn't be worth it. "You ready? You can have the bat."

"I'm game."

"Wait don't- and they're gone. How long is this rope anyways?" She starts to tug, and the rope comes back, no Junpei in sight. "Oh God."

T.V. World

"Guess we're back in the studio." _Thanks captain obvious._

"Why have you returned?" The blonde haired girl walks up to them. "This is not a place for humans, and you don't seem have been thrown in here against your will."

Junpei catches something on her speech. "Throwing people in? Do you mean the two girls who died?"

"Affirmative."

"Then we were right after all. Wait, does that mean that someone else threw them in on purpose in an attempt to kill them?"

"I do not know, however, aside from the TVs I made for you, there is no way out."

"Nah it's cool we got a- no we don't. You'll let us out when we're done investigating right?"

"No, I will be letting you out now. The shadows will prey upon you and you will die."

"But we gotta investigate," Junpei protested. "When it gets foggy, someone dies."

"When the fog lifts in this world, the shadows become agitated and violent. I believe this is related to the fog in your world."

"This is a studio," Minato states. "Maybe this is where the Midnight Channel is filmed."

"This "filming" you speak of has never occurred. This place has always looked this way."

"Wait, I just thought of something." Junpei's face goes serious. "Miss cosplayer here is the most suspicious thing of all. It's time to question you!" Junpei tries to tackle her, but a metallic clang is heard. "Aww shit, this chick is actually MADE of metal."

"Yes, I am. The physical capabilities you have as a human is not enough to best me. All I wish for is that the shadows stop being worked up. It is an unnatural phenomenon."

"So are metal people," Junpei grumbles.

"May I ask for you assistance? Even though it goes against the rules I set for myself, I cannot monitor the events that take place in your world."

"We'll help, but about the monsters..."

"I am able to shoot bullets from my fingertips and as for the fog, I have a solution." Aigis pulls out two pairs of glasses. Junpei receives wrap around sunglasses and Minato is given dark blue ones that look like normal glasses. Aigis pulls down a visor that covers her eyes.

"Oh man, the fog is completely gone. This is kickass. But uh, where do we start looking?"

"I can show you where the last person who was in here was taken. I hope you intend to use that bat, because the shadows don't react to bullets the way that other living creatures do."

"Lead the way, Aigis. Man, this is gonna be awesome." The three head deeper into the strange world beyond the T.V.

A/N: I feel like this was as good a stopping point as any. Chidori's area will probably be the entire chapter, and it will be a two-parter. I'm not putting myself through Thursday again, so expect the chapter to be up on Friday. It may seem like Junpei bounced back quickly, but after next chapter that will not be the case. I'm going to feel like such a horrible person for doing what I'm going to put him through. XD


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I need to stop typing author's notes when I'm half asleep XD sorry Aquatic. I finished the last chapter Sunday night, and I just wanted it up by Monday. I don't know why I put Aquinas though. But, this story just hit the thousand view mark today. :D A little more criticism would help though. I'm running in blind without a beta reader and I don't know if those views come from people actively checking the story or just a lot of people reading the first chapter and losing hope. XD

Shadow Shopping District

"Yo, Aigis. Any reason why this place looks exactly like the shopping district in our world?"

"I do not know. This place was formed yesterday. I do not have any data on the area."

"We should keep going." Minato walks ahead. "We need to stay focused."

"You're right man, but, if this place is connected to Chidorita, we should check out her family's liquor store." The group continues on, Junpei in the lead. "This is the place. It's got that same weird glow as that room from last time."

"Wait." Aigis suddenly stops. "Enemy detected."

Four shadowy figures emerge from the vortex in front of the store. They then morph into striped monsters with large tongues. Aigis is firing at two of them, but having to divide her attacks is making it less effective than it should have been. The other two begin to charge at Minato. Just before Aigis finishes off her opponents, Junpei falls to the ground. A strange feeling washes over Minato. _Not that damn voice again. _

"I am thou. Thou art I. The time has come. Open thine eyes, and call forth what is within." A card materializes in Minato's hand.

"Per...so...na." The card disappears in his hand. A mechanical figure appears behind Minato. It has a human face and an instrument on its back. It fades away, but its presence lingers in the back of Minato's mind.

"Each shadow has a potential weakness. Pinpoint it and you can inflict massive damage." Minato breaks the card in his hand. The figure rushes towards the shadow.

"Bash!" The persona takes the instrument and hits the shadow with it. The shadow disintegrates into the blackness. Minato feels the slightest bit of fatigue. He aids Aigis in taking down the last shadow by hitting it with the bat.

"What the hell was that?" Junpei rushes up to Minato. "You called it a persona. You think I could do that?"

"I don't know. It just felt...natural." He stops for a second. "His name is Orpheus."

"He may be cool and all, but what man beats enemies to death with a harp?"

"It's a lyre." His glare was almost as terrifying as the shadows.

"That was very impressive, Minato-ninja. I did not know that humans were capable of wielding such power."

"Minato-ninja? The hell is that for?"

"Is ninja not the highest rank a man can achieve? What should I call him then?"

"Minato-ninja is fine." Whether he was being serious or sarcastic is a question that will never be answered.

A voice echoes from somewhere. "Damm that Junes! It's stealing all of my business." A different voice, "You hear about that traitor, Chidori-san? She actually works there." The first voice, "Her parents must be ashamed to have raised such a traitor." The voices fall silent.

"I know everybody hates Junes, but it's not Chidori's fault." Junpei is enraged. "Damn them! I'm goin' in to find out what the hell happened." Junpei storms into the building with the others close behind.

The voices come again. "Chidori, I understand you want a little money, but why do you need to work there of all places? Do they pay you well? Is that why? Or is it some boy?"

"I think that's Chidori's dad, but why is he being so hard on her? What's so bad about getting a job?" Junpei looks around the store with an unreadable look on his face. "Huh? These are the tickets I slipped into her bag for the art show. Why are they all torn up?"

The voice of Chidori's father echoes. "You've been hanging out with that Iori boy and he invited you somewhere in the city? What the hell is wrong with you? It's bad enough you're working with the enemy, but now you're making friends with them? I knew you were around him, but I tolerated it because I believed you were getting him to lighten your workload, but now this?"

"Father, I can speak with whomever I choose." The familiar voice of Chidori says with determination. "It was very kind of him to invite me to such a nice event."

This seemed only to make him angrier. "You're not going anywhere, and you're quitting your job too." He tears up the ticket. "Or at least you will if you want to keep living in this house." Nothing is said, but the slam of a door is heard. The scene ends, but the voices don't vanish. It seems to be a reflection of Chidori's own thoughts.

"I'm sorry Junpei. I don't know what to do right now. I can't tell you what's happening because it will only make you worry. You are my closest friend, but I need to push you away right now. I'm sorry." Her voice is on the verge of tears, but it suddenly stops.

"No!" Junpei begins to panic. "Please keep talking! If you stop, I'll never hear your voice again! Please..." He falls to the floor. "She's dead, isn't she? It just hit me that she's never coming back, and I never even got to tell her how I felt."

"Oh boo-hoo, you know none of that's true," says a familiar voice.

"Huh? That wasn't me." Junpei and Minato whip around to see someone who likes exactly like Junpei, but seems to be emitting an evil aura.

"Shadow detected. It does not seem to be attacking at the moment."

"You and I both know that you came here for your own selfish reasons. Not for Chidori's sake, but for your own ego. Her death was the perfect excuse for you to have your time in the spotlight. You thought "What if I became the hero?"." He starts to laugh. "Man, that's hilarious! Too bad this guy over here is a hundred times better than you."

"Hell no! You're just spouting bullshit!"

This seems to amuse the shadow. "Am I? When you found out there was the possibility of an adventure you immediately forced this guy along because this town sucks. Of course, you kept that annoying girl back home so she wouldn't cause trouble, but you could deal with one tag along. Too bad he's the one with all the power! Entering TVs, summoning that monster, and all you did was cower in the corner." His face morphs into one of pure disgust. "You're so pathetic. You haven't done anything important besides your pitiful display back there."

"Who the hell are you to tell me this shit?"

"I'm you. The parts you don't want to face and shut away for your own peace of mind."

"Like hell! You're not me!"

Shadow Junpei begins laughing more even more manically than before. "You're right! I'm not you! I'm too powerful to be bound to a weakling like you!" The shadowy aura overtakes all of its body. A bright light blinds the party to its transformation. As the shadow gets stronger, Junpei weakens and collapses.

"All right. Let's do this!"

A/N: I would have kept going, but this chapter would have been way too long. I've got a plan for all the shadows but, I don't really know if I want to use it. It makes sense, but maxing the social links won't be nearly as impressive. In Persona Q, Shinjiro just got a shiny blue fire, and we might be reduced to that.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hello. I decided to make all of the shadows of the characters follow a certain set of rules. The shadows will be immune to everything except personas. Meaning that Aigis can't help and the fights will play out more like persona vs. persona duels. There won't ever be a six on one fight, so I'll find good reasons for some characters to be excluded.

Shadow Shopping District

The light clears. Instead of looking like Junpei, the shadow changed to a different form. The being is a humanoid figure dressed in black. It wears a mask and has golden accessories attached to its arms and legs in the shape of wings.

"I am no longer a reflection of his heart. I am Hermes, god of thieves! Let me prove my power to you by guiding your pitiful soul to the Underworld!" Hermes charges towards Minato.

"Orpheus!" He blocks Hermes' oncoming attack with his lyre. Even though it was attacking with its bare hands, Orpheus was still pushed back. He is forced to go on the defensive.

"It appears as though Hermes has more raw power than Orpheus. This could be problematic."

"Bash!" Orpheus' lyre glows with power, and he is given a short reprise due to Hermes being knocked back.

"Heh. Not bad. However, no being that has been bonded to a human can surpass one that is free of those chains. You are destined to lose." Its relentless onslaught continues and Orpheus is beginning to fade. _Damn. Is there anything I can do?_ _Wait._

"Tarunda!" Blue energy seeps out of Hermes and its reflexes weaken. Its attacks don't seem to faze Orpheus as he becomes the one on the offensive.

When Hermes begins to stagger, Minato sees an opportunity. "Bash!"

"Gaah! I underestimated you, human. But know this. At your current power, this world will tear you apart and it will be no one's fault but your own human folly."

Hermes shrinks back to the identical form of Junpei and says nothing. Sensing the absence of danger, Orpheus fades away.

Junpei begins to waken after the emergence of Hermes drained his energy. "Damn, why do I feel so tired all of the sudden? Aww man, why are you still here?" The doppelganger says nothing, but stares at him with its emotionless yellow eyes. "Well forget you! You're just some crazy hallucination this world came up with!"

"No it is not." Aigis interrupts him. "You know that what the shadow said was true, and denying the truth of its existence was what made it go beserk."

"But-" "Junpei." Minato stops him. "Just because what the shadow said was true, doesn't mean that it's an unacceptable part of your personality. None of us can judge each other, because we all have hidden evils that we don't want to admit."

Junpei sighs. "I guess you're right." He turns to his shadow. "Everything you said was true. I am bored with my life, I want to be known as someone special,and I am bitter about this guy having all the talent, and the fact the he just beat the crap out of you just proves it more. So yeah, it's all true. I guess putting it that way means you really are me." The shadow gives a serene smile and fades away. In its place, is a persona. It resembles Hermes, but is cloaked in red and has an extra set of metallic wings attached to its shoulders. Its mask is now a bird with a red orb in its mouth.

"Trismegistus huh? So that's the name of my persona?" Junpei pauses. "My persona looks manlier than yours."

"You really know the important things in life, don't you?"

"You bet I do!" He suddenly becomes solemn. "But, Chidori... Was she killed by her own shadow?"

"That is the most accurate guess we have at this point in time. It could have made its move when enraged by the fog. Yours may have attacked early because it was provoked by our presence."

"Well that's the best we got so far. Good job Aigis."

"It was nothing compared to your skill with Orpheus, Minato-ninja. You executed the attack lowering spell at the perfect moment."

"It was nothing. Junpei, why do you have 3,000 yen?"

"Oh, hehe." He seems embarrassed about being caught. "I think my shadow dropped it, like you know, enemies in video games. Since it was my shadow, I think I earn any items that may have been on it."

"But I defeated it."

"Half and half."

"Deal. Now that that's settled, we should return to the studio."

Entrance to the Shadow World

"I was thinking about the places we saw." Junpei suddenly blurts out. "That room and the shopping district you know? If this place becomes reality for all those who enter, can't the reality become suited to the ones who entered?"

"You sound like you spent a long time thinking about this."

"Only the whole way back, but it was worth it. It sounded smart, right?"

"Junpei-san has a point. On another matter, I believe I know why the two women were not attacked by shadows. If they were forcibly brought here and weren't trying to investigate, only their own shadows were interested in them. Us, however, are a threat to the shadows' continued existence and may be perceived as threats. I was not openly attacked until today with you all, and shadows do not attack each other."

"I just thought of something else! If there is a time span between getting thrown in and the fog, can't we find the victims and get them out before they die?"

"Theoretically, yes. If you cannot prevent them from being kidnapped, this will be the next best option. However, as long as the culprit roams free, there is an opportunity for more victims."

"Yeah, but that just means we gotta find them too!"

Minato thinks for a second. "Our goal will be to prevent any more deaths. We will try to find the one responsible for these crimes. In the best case scenario, we would be to be able to get a solid case on the culprit, but if we can't, we will have to take justice into our own hands."

"I suppose the matter has been decided. You will return in the future, correct? In that case, I encourage you to use the same access point that you have been using. Otherwise, you may end up in uncharted territory."

"Thanks for your help Aigis. Could you open the portal to our world?"

"See ya later Aigis. We'll contact you by the end of the week, we promise." Swirly portal ensues.

Junes Electronic Department

"Guess everything turned out alright in there."

"I don't think it did..."

Shadows could never be as terrifying as Yukari at that moment in time.

"I hate you Stupei! You too Minato! Take your stupid rope! Do you guys know how worried I was? I thought... you weren't coming back." Yukari runs off halfway to tears.

"Man, now I feel terrible. But, I am so beat. I'm going to go home and straight to bed. I'll apologize tomorrow."

"See ya." Minato starts on his way home. _I've had enough magic for one day._

A/N: I'll just share this with you guys now to prevent confusion later on. Combat will basically be as follows. Summon personas. Personas proceed to hit with random melee attacks, unless they only use magic. (Yukari) When needed, they send over their energy to their personas. (As with Orpheus in this chapter) Magic is requesting that personas use their own power. Once the danger is defeated, they disappear. I hope the fight wasn't too boring. Orpheus doesn't have much to work with, and Hermes is resistant to fire. It may have been short, but five paragraphs of the two of them whacking each other would just be plain boring.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: I don't know what to put here right now. Just know that the hardcore social linking starts soon. Any tips to make fight scenes be less horrible would be appreciated. This week was pretty busy, and so will next week, but I'll figure something out.

Flood Plain

Minato walks home through the rain. Sitting on a bench is none other than Mitsuru. She is wearing a kimono, part of the dress code for any pretty girl in any sort of Japanese media. It has light pink base, and to the shock of every person who has ever seen a kimono, it has flowers. It's simple but elegant.

"Ah, hello Arisato. Would you care to join me away from the rain?" Minato did just that. "Have you adapted well to your new school? Going to a place you've never heard of can be difficult."

"I think I'm doing ok."

Mitsuru seems faintly amused. "As long as you make an effort, you'll be fine. I've traveled to some of the other branches, but I've never lived anywhere but here. My father asked me if I wanted to attend a more renowned school, but he did not pressure me into leaving Inaba. As for your adjustments, I hope Yukari has been helping you adapt."

"She's been great. I think it's too soon to really say much about her though."

Mitsuru laughs. "Indeed, it would be difficult to speak much about someone you have just met. Even so, I would assume that you have a pretty good grasp on her relationship with Iori."

"It's definitely...unique."

She glances at her watch. "I'm afraid I must be going. My father asked me to take charge of the inn for a short period of time, as management training. If you would excuse me." Both high schoolers headed off to their respective homes.

Ikutsuki residence

The TV plays the news. "Due to the similarity in positioning of the bodies of both Mayumi Yamano and Chidori Yoshino, the police are investigating whether this case is a serial murder. Due to the heavy fog, the bodies went unnoticed for a while after their estimated time of death. Both bodies were found in the residential district of Inaba, and this has raised concerns over the safety of people in their own homes."

Maiko looks over at Minato. "Oh yeah! Ikutsuki-san told me that the paperwork monster attacked him recently and that's why he can't be home all the time."

"The paperwork monster sounds terrifying." _Personally, the schoolwork monster is a much more terrifying demon. Better not destroy Maiko's dreams of a fun time at school, so I'll just stay silent. _

"He asked us to clean up a bit around the house, so you're going to clean all the tall places."

"In other news, the Kirijo Inn, one of Inaba's hotspots known for its traditional Japanese feel and popular hot springs, has begun to allow the young Kirijo to take control. Even though she's only in high school, her ability to manage has been praised by the customers and staff. Let's see if we can have a word with her. Excuse me!" The reporter calls for Mitsuru's attention.

"Hm? Are you referring to me?"

"So I've heard that you've become the new manager of your inn, even though you're still in high school, and that you soon plan to be in charge of the Kirijo chain. Any comment?"

"It's just field experience. My father is still the man in charge."

"But you will take charge someday. As for your dress, has anyone told you that you look fabulous in a kimono?"

"If that is all you're interested in, I think I must be leaving." Mitsuru tries to escape, but it is very difficult to get the dumb people away from the smart people. Even after this, the reporter is allowed to keep his job, somehow.

"This is boring." Maiko speaks up. "I'll just do my chores and go to sleep." Minato helps Maiko do the housework. Afterwards, he has some free time. He obviously goes to bed immediately.

Road to school

We join our hero at the most epic part of his journey, the walks to school that usually contain no voice acting. Oh, and Junpei's there too.

"Hey man, about yesterday." He seems a bit uncomfortable. "Sorry about what shadow me said. Yeah, it may be true, but I got your back. Together, we'll be an unstoppable team, and we'll pound that asshole's face into the ground 'till they confess. Guess that we're partners in solving crimes." Even through the pain of Chidori's death, Junpei is looking ahead. A pleasant feeling wells up in Minato. _Magician? What does that mean?_

Junpei glances at his watch. "Aww shit. Let's hurry up. I don't want to be chewed out by the teachers again." Rushing to school ensued.

Homeroom

Junpei and Minato are speaking in hushed tones. Yukari walks in with a nervous look. "I haven't forgiven you guys, but I need to ask you something. Did you guys see Mitsuru today?"

"No, why?" Straight to the point, you'll never guess who said this.

"Oh man. Were you guys actually being serious when you said that the people that show up on the TV die?"

"Of course! We wouldn't joke about stuff like that!"

"But if that's true, I think that Mitsuru might be in trouble." She continues to talk, voice rising after every word. "Nobody has seen her today and she hasn't answered my calls. The person on the Midnight Channel was wearing a kimono, and she was too. Something must've happened to her!"

"Calm down, Yuka-tan. You gotta stop jumping to conclusions. We'll tell you all that we know, but you gotta promise to chill out." Minato explains what they learned yesterday.

"So she's trapped in that place? Now I'm even more worried. I need to call her again." It goes to voicemail. "Oh no, then she really is trapped in that freaky place."

"Isn't there anywhere else you can call? She may be having phone problems."

"Oh right. I'll try the phone at the inn." She dials the number. "Hello? Oh, Mitsuru!" Mitsuru talks for a bit. "No problem." Yukari hangs up. "She was caught up in stuff over there. She'll be back by third period. Geez guys, thanks for worrying me."

"You were the one jumping to conclusions!"

"Fine, fine, I guess we're even from yesterday. Just because they're on the TV doesn't mean that they're trapped there."

"It seemed like the only conclusion at the time. Anyways, let's talk to Aigis after school." Junpei had an idea that nobody felt was dumb enough to shoot down. There is a God.

Junes Electronic Department

"How did you forget there was a sale on electronics? Great job, Stupei."

"Hey, there were kind of more important things going on this week."

"Whatever, let's just make sure no one sees us. We'll just crowd around you."

"Aigis." Minato taps the screen and it ripples.

"Yes?" Her voice echoes out of the speaker.

"Do you sense anyone in that world?"

"No, why do you ask?"

"We had reason to believe that someone had been thrown in. Thank you for checking."

"It was not a problem Minato-ninja." The speakers fall silent.

"I guess she never went in. You'll still check on her right, Yuka-tan?"

"Of course I will. I'll walk her to school tomorrow and try to get her to not go out alone."

"That's good. We should check the channel tonight just in case."

"You're the boss. I guess for now that's all we can do." The three of them go their separate ways.

A/N: So that's that. Anything more and I would have had to design Mitsuru's shadow. Haven't done that yet XD. I've got an idea, and it just might be hilarious. Here's a hint, think of Yukiko's dungeon + Mitsuru and her powers. It's just the perfect comparison. I bet most of you figured it out already, but to those who haven't, you won't have to wait long.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Writing this on Sunday, but it'll be posted on Monday, so the one month anniversary is tomorrow. The day after that is the last day I ever have to go anywhere near my school ever again. Also, while I was watching Persona 4 Arena and Ultimax as inspiration for what her shadow would be like, I learned something. Mitsuru. Is. AWESOME. Arena shows just how smart she really is, and in the case of a murder investigation, she is undoubtedly going to be the brains of the operation. She had her moments in Persona 3, but Arena was her time to shine.

Ikutsuki residence

Only one important thing happened before the Midnight Channel that night. "I haven't given you any money have I?" Ikutsuki came to sudden realization.

"No, but so far there's been food in the house."

Ikutsuki chuckles. "I'll give you some money to use however you want, but if you don't want to eat here, that'll be from your own pocket. If you want to have lunch from school, that's fine too. If you feel like you need something that costs more than you have, ask me if it's important. If it's just for fun though, get a job." He ends up giving Minato 3,000 yen.

"Thanks." A boring night of studying and staring and the clock awaited Minato.

Close to Midnight

The TV flashes to life. Catwoman wearing a coat made of fur from dead puppies is on the screen. _Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but she is literally wearing a skin tight black outfit and a coat likely made of animal fur. _In the background is the swirly red and black sky, and is that? _There is actually an ice castle right behind her. I...don't think I have words for this right now._

Mitsuru starts speaking into the microphone. "Hello viewers. Today, we are about to unveil the marvelous work that took many hours of hard work from many unimportant, nameless people." _Is her voice super echoey, or is it just me? _"I'll show you the masterpiece of what my family has worked on for generations, what their struggle has gotten them in life. If you don't believe yourself worthy of such an honor, then you probably aren't. For those who are ready, I will show you in just a moment." The screen flicks off. Minato's cell phone rings.

"Uh dude?" Junpei's voice is relatively quiet. "I think she's in the TV world."

"I noticed."

"Hey, don't say it like that! Meet me at Junes tomorrow to check things out. I'll call Yukari, you don't know how to handle her freak outs yet, so I'll take care of it. Oh, wait! You're into swords, right?"

"I actually take kendo."

"Wait, so you have swords in your house right now?"

"Yes, but they're dulled for safety precautions."

"Lame. Bring a couple to Junes tomorrow anyways. See ya later man." Junpei hangs up. _Time to go to sleep. Hopefully._

Junes food court

"What the hell is this?" Junpei is clearly annoyed. "Why do I get the baseball bat?"

"Because I took sword lessons and you're an idiot."

"Can I even hit stuff with this?" Junpei tries out a few practice swings. "Yeah, I guess it could work."

"Put the bat down, dumbass!" It was too late. The nearby police officers who were inexplicably stationed at Junes had taken notice.

"Hey, what the heck are you guys doing?"

"Uh, nothing?" Smooth Junpei. Luckily, Minato had the decency to have kept his sword in his case.

"We were going to play for a bit after we ate." That's a good, non suspicious story. Those guys who were stationed there were not the brightest.

Police station

A stern-looking officer glares at the two of them. "With all the shit that's been going on right now, I'm going to let you two go, for three reasons. One, most of the police force is made up of morons who can't tell left from right or criminals from a couple of idiots. Two, you're both teens with hormones running wild and stupidity in your veins. Three, there was a trusted witness on the scene who is likely smarter than all of my coworkers put together, and he wouldn't vouch for criminals." He sighs. "Just get out."

Junpei and Minato walk out of the room only to encounter another cop. "Hey, wait." Yeah Junpei, annoy another cop. Great. "Did anything about Mitsuru Kirijo come up?"

"Uh, yeah. Are you guys her friends? Then I guess it's ok to tell you, but keep it quiet. Her family can't find her anywhere. Even worse, that announcer lady supposedly was seen yelling some nasty things at her. Some of the guys think she's laying low, just in case."

"Wait, senpai's a suspect? What the hell?"

The man starts to panic. "Hey, keep it down. I told you all that I know so get out of here. If anybody asks, Adachi didn't tell you." He runs off in hurry.

"There you guys are!" Yukari runs up to them and is not happy. "Stupei, what did you do?"

"Hey I was only-" "I don't care. Mitsuru is more important. Nobody knows where she is and that must mean that she's really trapped on that side."

"Don't worry. We'll save her. I promise." Minato's reassuring voice managed to calm Yukari down.

"I don't want you guys going to such a dangerous place with only a dull sword and a baseball bat. I know this guy who supplies the archery club with awesome equipment. Come on."

Weapons and armor shop

"Look, I don't know why you all want weapons and armor. I don't think you all are here to buy these and then frame them. Personally I don't care, but if a dead body is found with slash marks or stab marks that match up with my goods, you're getting arrested. Also, don't give anything sharp to that guy." It's official, retired cops are the residential badasses of society.

"Yukari's got her arrows and I have my sword, but what can I convince you to allow Junpei to carry?"

Kurosawa thinks for a second. "I'm hoping that since he plays baseball he'll be better with them than someone with broken arms. I'll see if I can find one made of something stronger than wood."

"How much are the thin plates of metal?"

"I'll take 1,200 yen per chest guard."

Minato turns to Junpei. "If you spent that 1,500 already, you deserve any injuries you receive."

Junpei grumbles. "Yeah, yeah." He grabs the chest guard. "A whole 300 yen, lucky me."

"Alright, let's go." Yukari's got her guard on and is openly wearing her bow and arrows. She notices their stares. "Come on, we all have sports that correspond to our weapons, why even bother?"

"You have a point, we'd get punished worse for concealing weapons than just walking around with them and not doing anything."

Junpei wears a goofy grin. "Alright soldiers, let's move out."

Minato gets a weird feeling. "You two go ahead, I gotta check something out first."

Yukari shrugs. "Suit yourself. See you later Kurosawa." Minato leaves a short while after.

Shopping district

_Oh look a magical blue door that only I notice. I wonder what this says about my mental state. There's only one thing to do in the situation. Embrace the hallucination._

A/N: The Velvet Room scene would have taken forever if I kept going, so we'll start with that next time. Also, Mitsuru's shadow may have been a bit weird, and I apologize if it's bad. It was awkward because it's supposed to be in the form of a TV show, but like, none of these characters' shadows are good for that. I could change the Midnight Channel, but I promise her actual shadow is much more than what was shown.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Summer :D. I'll do my best to keep up with my schedule, but I'm going to be traveling a lot. My family just wants to burn money on dumb things instead of saving it. I'm kind of possessive of my money.

Velvet Room

"Welcome. I knew that you would be joining us soon." _Recurring dreams usually have a meaning. What this one's is, I have no idea. _"It seems as though tragic events have occurred in your world." Igor continues on, oblivious to Minato's self-reflection on his sanity. "But, the power or Persona has granted you a way to combat that which threatens your world. I am here to offer my assistance. Elizabeth, would you explain?"

"Your power is stronger than that of other Persona users. You have the power of the Wild Card. What that means is that you are able to wield multiple Personas. Your ability to use this power stems from your bonds with others. These bonds are called Social Links. Social Links will be your strength. Do you recall your interaction with that boy yesterday?"

_Holy shit, they've been watching me._ "There was this weird feeling. It wasn't unpleasant, but I heard a voice that said the word magician."

Igor speaks up at this. "The power of the Magician is now yours to command in battle. When you need its power, a Persona of the Magician arcana will heed your call. You may encounter Personas that do not align with one of the arcana that you have bonded with. In that case, the Persona will be weakened. When that happens, you may either keep it in the hopes that you form a bond with its arcana soon, or you can fuse it away. Fusion is a process in which two or more Personas are combined to make a stronger one. This may be a lot to take in, but come back when you possess more Personas and I will guide you through it. Until then, farewell." The velvet room disappears from Minato's vision. _Well, that happened. Better head to Junes._

Junes food court

"I think us guys are doing pretty good, but Yuka-tan isn't exactly blending in." It's true. The entire mass of like a dozen people who want to spend their days off at a superstore were looking at Yukari. A bow and arrow kind of sticks out.

Yukari scoffs. "Whatever. We have more important things to worry about than how all of our images are going to be ruined by this. The sooner we get there, the sooner we know what's going on."

"Alrighty then team, let's move out!" Ha. Junpei thinks he's in charge.

TV World

"Hello." Aigis comes out of the fog ready to greet them.

"Hey, we didn't fall out of the sky this time!"

"From now on, I will leave these portals open for your convenience. It will be easier than waiting for you to recover from the fall."

Yukari pokes her. "You guys weren't kidding. She really is a robot!"

"If I were merely a man-made machine, I do not believe I would be self-aware. I hypothesize that though I am made of metal, I was not created by humans."

"Then who made you?" Asked Minato.

"I do not know. I do not even know how long I have been in operation. I have not had a reason to keep track."

"When you say you're self-aware, does that mean you have feelings?" Junpei knew enough about the real world to know that no machine has been made that can claim to be more than programming.

"I am able to imitate the thought process of humans to solve problems, but feelings or emotions are what create shadows. Since I do not have a shadow, even after operating here for so long, I likely do not possess the requirements needed for one to be formed. If I did, it would have emerged by now."

"I guess that makes sense, but you still seem pretty human to me, minus the finger guns."

"We can talk about this later." Yukari addresses Aigis. "Do you know if anyone else came here?"

"Affirmative. Less than 24 hours ago, a human female appeared in this world. An area that was previously fog has changed into a different landscape."

"Ok then, let's go." Junpei starts walking off in a random direction.

"Wait, Junpei. Yukari-san is still unable to see through the fog. I have prepared a pair of glasses." Aigis hands her red, thin, and square glasses.

"Oh no!" Junpei suddenly exclaims. "They're not pink! Yuka-tan, are you ok?"

"Come on Minato-kun. Lead the way Aigis."

"Great idea, Stupei." Minato turns around, says this, and keeps walking.

Junpei groans. "Don't you start this too." The foursome delve deeper into the TV world, ignoring Junpei all the while.

Ice Palace

"Dude."

"Don't say it."

"Dude."

"Don't say it."

"Do you want to build a- oww, shit!" Junpei was interrupted by Minato's fist connecting with his face.

"I should have done worse."

"Dude, it's literally a castle made out of ice. What am I supposed to say?"

"Nothing! Stupei, the world would be a quieter place if you just never talked." Ouch, Yukari.

Junpei's reference wasn't out of place. The massive castle in front of them was made of ice. The architecture would have been impossible to create in the real world, but Mitsuru's psyche doesn't care. Since there was no sun, the shine that would have reflected off of the ice was absent. The ground was an ice walkway with symmetrical snow sculptures at certain points. Even though the entire thing was made of ice, it wasn't cold to the touch. It had the elegance of a real castle, but it also had a fortress like design. The surface was very smooth, and it looked like it would have taken a long time to make in the real world, if such a structure was possible.

"This place is built like a maze with multiple floors. It doesn't matter what it looks like on the outside, the castle does not look the same on the inside. You cannot use what you see here to try to make a map out of the inside. This world is constantly changing, and this place will never look the same on two different days."

This only seems to encourage Junpei. "Hell yeah! Trismegistus and I'll take this place down! Changing layout won't matter if you burn a hole in the wall." Junpei ignored the fact that since the ice wasn't cold, it likely wouldn't melt easily.

"I can, at the very least, make an internal map of the areas we have already accessed. It may only be useful on that day, but it will prevent us from going the same way twice without purpose."

"Who needs maps when you got Persona power? Man, I totally feel awesome!" Junpei had that dumb look in his eyes by this point, but no one seemed to notice.

"So how exactly should we deal with this? I want to save senpai as soon as possible, but going in without a plan won't be good for her or for us." Minato was here being the voice of reason. Too bad Junpei didn't quite catch onto that part.

"What are you talkin' about man? We got Personas. If these guys are as wimpy as the ones in the shopping district, we won't even need to try."

"I agree with Minato-ninja. The best way to tackle this problem would be to analyze what we find and to form a strategy accordingly. Oh. It appears as though Junpei-san has already entered the castle. I did not think that charging in is considered a good plan for humans. I suppose I was wrong."

"No Aigis, you were right. That is what most people consider to be a bad idea. Stupei is just a special case. Come on Minato, you're the only other one with a Persona, so you take the lead."

"Wait a moment. I don't wish to hold you up, but please hold onto these items. In this world, they have medicinal properties. They will be necessary when a shadow does too much damage."

"Alright, thanks. Let's get going." The team heads off to save an idiot from getting torn apart by shadows. They might let him get roughed up a bit, but he won't be as useful with a missing limb.

A/N: We made it from the velvet room to almost inside of the first dungeon. I think we got pretty far in this chapter. Man, in the first half of May, this story has already surpassed my expectations. If you've actually read this far, I thank you for sticking with what looks, at least to me, as the most awkward way to word things possible while still be grammatically correct. Like, look at that sentence.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Man am I smart. I fell off a trampoline and now my nose looks beautiful. I didn't write on Saturday because I went straight to bed. I might have a concussion, but I think I'm fine. Probably. There's a reason nerds shouldn't go outside.

Mitsuru's castle

"Agi!" A burst of fire comes from Orpheus and the tongue monsters dissolve.

"My calculations say that if there was a persona-user for each non user, we would significantly be having more success."

"Sorry, Minato-kun. We're probably just dead weight to you right now, huh?"

"It's fine. Even just knowing that there's backup is reassuring." Actually, Minato was doing just fine on his own. He would send in Orpheus to attack the shadows head on with regular attacks. After they were weakened for a bit, he would finish them off with his sword. Yukari and Aigis would attack the ones that got too close and some of the weakened ones. If there was a large group, he would send Orpheus to make a fire in the middle of the enemies. Even without Orpheus, Minato was still doing the best.

"Hmm?" A pair of rotating cards appear in front of Minato's face. Neither of the girls seem to notice. Minato reaches out towards one of them.

"What's wrong?" Yukari notices that he stopped.

"Nothing."

"I have resupplied myself with new ammunition."

"What?" Aigis is equipped with guns that were definitely larger than before. "Where did those come from?"

"That treasure box over there." While Yukari is loudly questioning the presence of treasure boxes, Minato is not so subtlety gathering the yen that the shadows dropped.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

"Paying for your next weapon. Any money that you make the shadows drop, you can have." This is the rule that the team will follow for the rest of their journey.

"Let us proceed. It would be unwise to linger. It would be better that we find the shadows instead of the other way around."

They begin to head back after they hit a dead end. "This kind of reminds me of some of those video games that Junpei plays. You know what I'm talking about right? We travel across rooms defeating enemies and gather items until we find the stairs. I'm not trying to sound weird, but there's even magic that's good against certain monsters!"

"I wouldn't worry Yukari-san. This is the way that this world has always been."

"We're only on the second floor. How do we know how much farther we have to go?"

"Let's just take it one floor at a time. We know it can't be endless, which means it's still possible to get through."

"I guess so." Yukari finally concedes. "Hey look, the next set of stairs." Once they reach the top, they are greeted to an empty room with Junpei standing in the center. He's covered in a few scratches, but nothing too serious happened. "Hey-"

"Be quiet for a second Yukari." He's dropping the -tan. That's when you know it's serious.

Mitsuru's voice echoes. "Never trust anyone, huh? That was one of the only things my grandfather ever told me before he died. My dad told me not to listen, so I didn't. Or at least, I tried to, until I realized that it was true. All of the people I had considered to be my friends usually wanted me for my money. I'm not ashamed of my family, but it seemed that it was all people seemed to care about." Her voice has a solemn tone to it.

"I don't think that this is the same Mitsuru as the one who was saying all that stuff on the Midnight Channel."

"At least Yukari's subtle about it. Even if that is all she wants, at least she's not saying it out loud. That makes her company pleasant at least."

"That's not why I'm her friend!"

"Sure it's not." A warped version of Yukari's voice suddenly speaks up. Like Junpei's shadow, it's wearing the same clothes as the original. "Well that makes you feel better doesn't it? She doesn't like you much either."

"What do you mean? Of course I like her!"

"Whatever." Her shadow sneers. "Even if you really are her friend, it's not like you trust people either. God, people are so annoying! It's not like you even like most of those self-centered bitches you hang out with. Those girls are so beneath you. That's why you like Mitsuru. At least she's not always going out with those brainless idiots and getting drunk at parties. Then again, why even bother? You just found out she tolerates you like you tolerate your _friends_."

"That's not true! She's just..."

"She's what now? You heard it from her own lips."

"Those aren't her real feelings!" Junpei was the one who spoke up this time. "Mitsuru-senpai is just worried that Yukari's like the rest, but she's not! No matter what you say, she'd never be anybody's friend just to use them!"

"Junpei..."

Her shadow seems to get angrier. "Who are you to talk? She thinks you're just about as dumb as the rest of those morons."

"Hey, I don't think that! How would you even know?"

This was the line the shadow was waiting for. "That's because I'm you. Everything I've just said are your true feelings. This is the real way that you think about the people around you."

"No! That's not true at all!" Her voice raises with each word. "I don't think any of that! You are definitely not me!"

The shadow starts laughing. "Of course I'm not! I've just become my own being. To prove it, I'll crush you like the weakling you are!" A bright light envelops the shadow.

"Get ready Junpei." Minato gets into a battle stance.

"You got it."

The light clears to reveal a dark skinned woman chained to a cow skull. At the same time, Yukari collapses. "I am Io. I will do anything to get where I need to be."

"We got this. Cleave!" Trismegistus begins to charge toward Io. Before he reaches her, she blasts wind at Junpei and knocks him down. Trismegistus is forced to guard Junpei from further attacks.

"It appears as though Junpei's persona is weak to wind. At the same time, I don't believe that Io is weak to fire. This is an unfortunate matchup."

"Bash!" Minato tests to see if she will have the same response. She does, but Orpheus isn't weak to wind. Even so, Io has powerful magic and Orpheus has to give up on the attack.

"Is that all you got? This'll be easier than I thought," Io taunts.

"Agi!" Io doesn't even try to dodge. She takes the hit, but it doesn't even do much. She again targets Junpei with another wind spell. This time, he's hit even worse than before."

"Junpei-san has sustained critical damage. Another hit and he will likely be knocked unconscious." _Damn, what can I do? Didn't I get a magical card, or something? How do I use that? Wait. I think I got it._

A different card than the one that Orpheus is summoned from appears in front of him. "Pixie!" Orpheus is replaced by a tiny fairy wearing blue.

"Master, I can help!" The sprite says in a high-pitched voice. "Concentrate for a sec."

Minato does just that. "Dia!" A green light washes over Junpei and he stands up.

"Huh? I feel totally fine. But why did Orpheus get replaced by that thing?" Trismegistus gets back into the fight and starts to distract Io. She sends a gust of wind at Minato. Pixie jumps in front of him and barely even staggers. Meanwhile, Trismegistus has been attacking Io and she begins to falter.

"I can finish this. You know what to do." Minato does the same thing he does to get Orpheus to use agi. Except this time, a bolt a lightning strikes Io in the center. She falls to the floor with a shriek.

"Now's our chance, let's get 'em!" Minato nods. Io is trying to get up. "Get back here you!" Minato and Junpei run up and strike her with their weapons. The damage is enough to cause her to stop moving. She eventually reverts back to her human form.

Yukari stands up. "Oww, my aching head. Oh, you're still here." The shadow just looks at her with an impassive expression. "You should just get out."

"Stop." Junpei walks up to her. "I went through the same thing, and I realized something. What you're looking at right now is what all of your bad feelings would like if there were no good ones. I know you don't think exactly like that, but some part of you does. That doesn't mean you're any different now."

Yukari just stares at him. After a while she sighs and shakes her head. "I guess I understand your point." She turns to her shadow. "So what if there is something like you inside me? It doesn't matter, as long as I don't let it have any control. You are me, but you don't rule my life." This was good enough, it seems. The shadow adopts peaceful look before it fades away. In its place is a persona. The cow has become the main body with white, red, and blue wings coming out of the sides and forming a half circle around her. Horns come out of her head and hold a red mirror. The persona fades away.

"Isis? That's her name?" After saying this, Yukari falls to her knees. "Guess I am pretty weak, huh? I'm fine though, we can keep going."

"That's not going to happen." Minato decides to make an executive decision. "Mitsuru will be fine, I promise. It's not going be to foggy today or even tomorrow."

"Alright," Yukari concedes. "We're coming back tomorrow though."

"Let us head to the studio. I believe that rest would be prudent for all of us." The team does just that.

A/N: Dang, this chapter was long. For not wanting to write at all, this came out very naturally. Just as fair warning, Bebe will not be in this fic. I just don't see why a foreign exchange student would go to such a town. But, our new Temperance link will be a very important character. Think of stuff that the shadows were responsible for that wouldn't happen in this world. I want you guys to PM me or leave in the reviews who you think it will be. I'm super excited for this character.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I feel like one of the hardest parts of writing this is finding enough relevant things to say in the author's notes. Next chapter is when Social Links get serious. Not all of the links will be returning, but all the links will be with Persona 3 characters. The Jester won't be in this fic because Minato doesn't have any real reason for connecting with them.

Studio

"I know we're leaving now, but we're coming back tomorrow after school, right?" Yukari asks.

"I don't think we should. Even with Pixie's help, Junpei still looks exhausted, and that stunt he pulled didn't help."

"Hey, I'm fine, aren't I?"

"You're fine? What if you have to fight another enemy that uses wind? If Minato wasn't there, what do you think would have happened to you?"

"I wasn't having problems until you showed up and denied your shadow! Nothing else in that place was nearly as dangerous!"

"Guys, stop it." Minato interrupts them. "You two were getting along just fine when we went against that thing. Junpei, Yukari's right. None of us should go alone. All our Personas have weaknesses, and we need each other to counteract them."

Junpei sighs. "I guess you're right. Trismegistus can be exhausting to use sometimes, and it's not like I can use what that fairy thing did. By the way, what was that about? Why did it suddenly start talking?"

"I don't know. She came because I needed her, and she spoke because I didn't know what to do."

"Why can't our Personas speak? Why would she be special?" Yukari asks.

"If I may, I have a theory." Aigis speaks up. "Personas are reflection of yourself. If we think of Orpheus, Trismegistus, and Isis as a mirror, wouldn't anything they would want to say be the same as what you are already thinking? If we assume that Pixie not a direct reflection, her thoughts may not be perfectly synchronized with Minato's."

"I guess that makes sense. I feel like I have a deeper understanding with Orpheus than I do with Pixie. Summoning her felt different than summoning Orpheus."

"Yeah, but why do you have her anyways? Neither of us have more than one Persona?"

_Explain presumed hallucination or lie? _"I don't know."

"Even if he does not know the cause, this discovery may prove to be useful in the future. The increase in Minato-ninja's capabilities is an asset."

"You know what? He should be our official leader." Yukari puts up this suggestion and Junpei is not happy with it.

"Aww why him?"

Yukari just stares at him. "Uh, because he can summon more than one Persona _and_ he has battle training."

"I concur. Having an official leader can help boost efficiency. Minor decision making that can usually cause conflict can be avoided, and a central power can help prevent confusion." With this statement, it was pretty much settled. Junpei was still mentally pouting, though.

"Alright, I'll do my best." With that statement a familiar feeling stirs in Minato. _Fool? Interesting._

"If we're not coming back tomorrow, when are we coming back?"

"We'll come back before it rains, but after you two recover and Kurosawa has better gear for Junpei and maybe for us."

"Wow, you really do sound like a leader." Minato felt a bit of pride at this statement, but Yukari didn't seem to notice.

"We can head back now, right? I'm beat." Junpei didn't have any clear wounds, but the fatigue was catching up to him.

"I will await your return."

"See ya later, Aigis."

Ikutsuki residence

"As for what happened today..." Ikutsuki is looking at Minato with an unreadable expression.

Minato sighs. "Nothing bad happened. A policeman panicked when he saw one of my friends had a baseball bat. We weren't trying to attract attention, but he's not very smart."

Ikutsuki loosens up a bit after that. "If you say so. I didn't want to make you nervous, I just needed to know. I'm not angry, but everybody is a bit jumpy right now. Please tell your friend to try act a little more responsibly."

"I will." _Well that could have gone worse. Good thing that Ikutsuki is pretty mellow._ _Think later, sleep now._

Walk to school

"Hey, Minato-kun." Yukari runs up to him. "I wanted to talk to you before I said anything to Junpei. Um, thanks for yesterday. Sorry you had to see something like that." She seems uncomfortable at the topic, but relieved to get it off her chest.

"You don't need to worry about it. I already saw Junpei's."

"Oh man, what was it like?" Minato just looks at her. "I guess that was kind of rude to ask without him, huh? Wait, did you even have one?"

"No."

She laughs. "I guess if you're always that honest, it's not going to come out because you're not trying to hide anything. Just knowing that is pretty comforting. It makes you feel reliable, you know?" _Two in two days? Pretty good if I say so myself. Lovers? Uh..._

"Hello?" Yukari snaps in front of him. "You kinda blanked out on me there. Anyways, let's make sure we're on time. It would be bad if we got in trouble with Ekoda."

After school

Minato had nothing to do. Yukari had archery and Junpei had to work. _I could check out clubs, I guess._

Minato couldn't join a club until tomorrow. _Ugh._ _I'll just go to the shopping district_. Minato did, and the only noteworthy thing to happen was that he bought a soda. He went home and studied. _If I don't find anything to do, I'm going to die._

After school

_Running around in circles or continuing my education in stabbing things?_ Minato headed to the kendo club. In the room, there were half a dozen members wearing kendo uniforms. After a quick talk with the coach, Minato was officially registered for the club.

"This is Minato Arisato. He said he's already had some training, but I'll be the judge of that." The coach walks away to answer the questions of some other semi-interested students.

A dark-skinned girl with black hair speaks up. "I'm Yuko Nishiwaki. I'm the manager of the team. This is Kazushi. We're both in the same year as you and we're fine with you calling us by our first names."

"Come on Yuko, don't make those decisions for me." The boy named Kazushi protests. He has similar skin tone and also sports black hair. "I guess it's alright. So, you think you're good at kendo, huh? Even though our goal is to beat other schools, I'll make sure you and I have some good matches." _A single conversation? How does this even work, anyways? Chariot. I'll google what that means later._

Even though he had joined kendo, there wasn't any practice today because of recruitment. He still stayed a while to get to know the team, so he spent a good amount of time there. He had enough time in the evening to get quite a bit of studying done. He also looked up the meaning of the arcana that he had formed links with. _Magician represents immaturity. Truer words were never said._

After school

_No kendo practice today. I guess I could check out some of the other clubs._

None of the recruiting ones were very interesting to Minato. _I'm doing a sport. That'll be enough to get school officials off my back._ On top of lame school activities, a visit with Kurosawa revealed that he wouldn't be getting a new shipment for a few days. In the silence of his own room, Minato groans. _This is gonna be a long week._

A/N: Pretty short, but last chapter can make up for that. I needed a legitimate reason besides Junpei not being man enough for them to not go to the TV world. The rest of the castle will taken out in one day, and I didn't want that to be day five of the game.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: This chapter follows a new format. Any long period of time without important story related events will be a collection of conversations. It's not important to know exactly what day they happened, only just the two events that they fall in between. This is just an overview of those days. Also, Minato isn't just going to kendo five times. It just doesn't seem realistic. However, two hours of sports practice doesn't automatically mean it's impossible to speak to someone afterwards.

After school

Minato had just finished his first day of kendo practice. Suffice to say, it was just as exhausting as he remembered. _Except this time, Kazushi made it his goal to "test my worth." I was not ready for a full-blown sparring match against the team captain. Especially when that captain doesn't know the meaning of the word "restraint."_

"Dude, you look like you just got your ass handed to you." Junpei dragged Minato to get some food right after his practice. Surprisingly, it wasn't at Junes, but at the restaurant called Aiya.

"Yeah I noticed," Minato grumbled. "I wasn't on the team last year, so I'm a little rusty."

Junpei just gaped at him. "You call what you did back there rusty? Those things didn't stand a chance!"

"Yeah well, mindless blobs are different from human opponents who've been doing it just as long as you, maybe even longer."

"Yeah, yeah. Still man, you were totally awesome back there. All I got is a crummy bat."

"You're the only other front line fighter we have. Both the girls have ranged abilities. I don't think I could stand in front of both of them for much longer."

Junpei winced. "I get it. Running off was dumb and I won't do it again."

"That's not what I was trying to say."

"Sure it wasn't. It's not like it matters at this point. Yukari's still pissed at me for that yelling fest we had at the end."

"She was worried about you. She just covered it up that way so you wouldn't notice." Going by Junpei's facial expression, he didn't notice. "It worked."

"Dang, now I feel like an ass. Better man up and apologize."

"Well good luck with that."

"Whatever man. I'm still stuck between an angry Yukari and a slightly less angry Yukari. She'll get over it just enough for us to get to Mitsuru-senpai. After that, it'll be a question of who she's more mad at. What senpai said before didn't sound like a good sign."

Minato raised an eyebrow. "I think it's too early to away anything like that. It was probably her shadow, and since we don't know how she really feels, we should wait before we say anything for sure."

"You got a point, but I don't know how Yukari will take it if what we heard is true."

"We'll figure out something to do about that later. Mitsuru-senpai's safety is more important than what her shadow's like."

"The shadows that come directly from people are way stronger than usual. I'm kinda nervous about it, but I'm excited too, you know?"

"I understand. If we can do this, it makes me feel like we would be prepared for more difficult challenges."

Junpei grins. "We should think of a name for our group. You know, with an awesome acronym."

"I don't think that should be our priority right now."

Conversation easily transitioned into more lighthearted topics_. I guess it's different this time. It said my bond has been strengthened. I guess it makes sense. I already know he's the Magician. I hope this thing doesn't pop up every time I try to talk to someone. Wait a minute, aren't there 78 arcana? I think I'm going to die._

Ikutsuki residence

"Where's Maiko?" This was the most obvious thing that greeted Minato when he got home.

"She's spending the night at a friend's house. Normally I wouldn't allow this on a school night, but they're good people and actually live even closer to her school than we do."

"Alright." There was really nothing more interesting to say to this.

"Come over here and sit down. We haven't really gotten a good chance to talk since you've gotten here." _This is probably the real reason that Maiko got to go to a sleepover. _"Are you adapting to your new school well?"

"It's been fine. Classes aren't too difficult, but it's still just the beginning of the semester, so that may change."

"Are you keeping busy outside of class?"

"I joined kendo, and I think I might apply for a part-time job soon."

"Don't overwork yourself. Trying to balance school and work can be difficult, so don't chase after both rabbits. Or hares in this case." Ikutsuki chuckles a bit at his own joke. _I thought that was a one time thing. Is this going to be a trademark of his?_ Minato had no idea of the worse things yet to come.

"I'll try my best not to." _Bang my head against the table more like._ "I won't work if I don't need the money."

"That's good to hear. Paying attention to your studies will help you in the long run."

"You never told me what it is you do."

"Oh, that's right. I apologize. I'm a financial advisor. I came to this town a little less than five years ago. Even then, Inaba was still considered small, and it was even smaller than now. A lot of businesses could benefit from my help and many have." Ikutsuki sighs. "I'm afraid that some people would rather do it all on their own. Most of this town is rather traditional, and some people don't want to look at things from a large scale perspective. I suppose I'm just rambling at this point, so why don't you share your view of Inaba?" _Hierophant? I don't remember what that means exactly, but I think it has do with authority. Ikutsuki seems pretty lax to me._

"The town's pretty quiet, but the air is clean and people seem to know each other. My classmates are ok, and I've met some nice people."

"That's excellent to hear. I'm glad that you don't mind. Some people would claim to be dying of boredom by now." _I mean I never said I wasn't. When I'm not spilling monster guts, I have sit through lectures about the roots of magic. Granted, considering I'm using magic I probably should be paying attention, but magic class, seriously? _

Ikutsuki checks the time on his watch. "Is it getting that late already? I guess I'll leave you alone to your studies. Don't let me keep you from something so important."

Minato heads up to his room. _I finished up all my homework in magic class. For now, I'll just sleep off the abuse I suffered in kendo. If I get hurt in the TV world because of that, I'm never talking to Kaz again._

A/N: So there we go. Sorry this chapter's a little late. Junpei was the source of a writer's block and a massive headache. I couldn't think of any other links I had a plan for that would make sense on that chapter, so we got an early dose of Ikutsuki. I'm actually super excited for some of the social links, but some of them are killing me on the inside. Needless to say, I hate you Kazushi.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: I've decided that I'm actually going to change the Midnight Channel. Needless to say, I'm at a loss for what I could possibly do for pretty much every character. The real reason is because it would be too hard, but I will give an in-story reason later on. When I think of a good way to present it, I'll go back and edit the previous showings, but for now, it will stay as is.

Saturday after school

"I think we're ready now." Minato had gone to get better equipment from Kurosawa the day before. He also went to the pharmacy to stock up on bandages and painkillers. Dia was good, but they didn't know what it was fully capable of yet. Everybody was rested up and no one had something urgent to do. Even if they ran out of time today, they agreed that anything not finished today would be taken care of tomorrow. They didn't want to cut it too close, because the longer Mitsuru was gone, the more tense they all became. "Let's meet up a Junes when you guys are ready."

TV world in front of the castle

"It appears as though a gate to the last floor you were on before you turned back has been opened. This could be a substantial time saver."

"Awesome! We don't have to walk as far this time!" Junpei was very enthusiastic at the prospect of less effort.

"Wait." Minato kills Junpei's dreams on the spot. "We should start from the beginning so that we know what Yukari's persona is capable of." Majority rules that this was a good idea, so that was what happened.

Right off the bat in the first battle, they were confused. Trismegistus and the newly acquired Nata Taishi were tearing up the weaker foes, but Isis hung back and wasn't participating in the melee fighting.

"Why isn't she doing anything?" Yukari was frustrated by the fact that her persona was useless at the moment.

"I don't think she can. Pixie's the same way. You have to consciously tell them spells because they aren't meant for close combat."

"I guess that makes sense, but how do I know what she can do?"

"Just ask her for help next time. She'll probably give you some guidance, but you'll be on your own after that."

On the epic trek back to the room where they fought Yukari's shadow, they learned a few things. Isis specialized in wind spells and healing, so Pixie didn't have to come out much. Apparently, aluminum baseball bats coming from someone like Junpei could make a lot of shadows with a decent amount of health left go down. Also, tiny arrows can never hit shadows, ever. Since the persona Omoikane knew lightning and some status spells, Pixie was rarely used at all.

They were progressing at a decent pace, until the later floors introduced powerful enemies. Men made of ice holding swords were becoming frequent, and this ice was actually cold. They were weak to fire, but surprisingly defensive. They were their first introduction to ice spells, and it made a lasting impression, especially because they didn't know that Omoikane was weak to ice. They eventually were either cut up, smashed, or lit on fire until they dissolved.

After a couple floors of that, they entered another floor that was nearly empty.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me." In front of them was a giant version of the swordsmen that they had been fighting, except a lot more dangerous. It was riding a giant horse and its weapon had been scaled to fit. Needless to say, it was intimidating.

Mitsuru's shadow was very obviously standing near it. "So, you finally decided to come. Not for her though. You just came because you didn't want what happens to someone who stays here for too long on your conscience."

Yukari speaks up. "That's not true! Where is she? I'll prove it to you!"

The shadow is amused by this. "You'll prove it to me? Survive this battle, and we'll see about that." It calmly walks out of the room. After that, the guard puts up a barrier on both sides, preventing escape.

"Uh guys?" Junpei asks nervously. "I think it's us or him right now."

Minato started giving orders after pausing for only an instant. "Spread out. For now, have your personas attack from different angles. Yukari, you're on healing duty. It's probably weak to fire, so we need Orpheus' help. Aigis, try to see if you can shoot at any weak points. If you can't, aim for the main part."

With just a little bit of organization their job was made much easier. It could only take so much punishment before it caved under the pressure exerted by Trismegistus and Orpheus. When it fell to the ground, it was bombarded by even more fire with a dash of bullet holes thrown in. It managed to cast a few times, but no one ended up on the receiving end of the massive sword that was as big as they were. After pausing to take a breath, check for any injuries, and keep their energy up, they continued on.

All of the regular enemies from then on were a joke. Nothing they found was any stronger than before, so they breezed through the ending stretch. When Aigis noticed that the floor they were coming up on was the final one, they felt like they were in a good enough condition to finish it up in one day. They swung open the doors to the final area.

They're greeted to the sight of Shadow Mitsuru casually sitting on a throne looking like it'd rather be anywhere else. At the bottom of the stairs, Mitsuru is looking up at her with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. She's still wearing the kimono that she was last seen in. She doesn't seem to notice the party until the shadow speaks up.

"So you did make it. I thought my guards would be better than that, but they're all useless. I guess that it's just another disappointment that comes with trusting someone else to get the job done."

Mitsuru turns around and her eyes widen. "Why did you all come here?"

"We came to get you out of here. Someone made you come here so that you would show up dead when the weather becomes foggy again."

Mitsuru just stares at Yukari in shock. The shadow speaks up at this. "You want to believe it don't you? You want to believe that they really came here for you. You don't though. There's at least a dozen other reasons why they could have came, isn't there? A third body wouldn't look very good for the town, now would it? They could have just accidentally discovered you and made that up on the spot."

"Don't listen to her." It was Minato who spoke up this time. "Yukari wouldn't have gone into full-blown panic mode if she wasn't worried for you."

"Hey!"

The shadow just laughs. "Panic mode? Like that would ever happen. You heard it directly from her own thoughts. She thinks of you the same way that she thinks of the people that only want her for her money. Even if you never make it clear, that feeling will never go away."

Mitsuru glares at the shadow coldly. "You don't know anything about her. While it may be true that I originally questioned her intentions, I no longer have any doubts." Yukari is touched by this, but feels a pang of guilt for thinking anything else.

Her shadow returns it with equal vehemence. "Stop lying to yourself. No matter what you say, you still don't believe that people could like you for any reason other than that they want something from you. You're just terrified that someone will be so nice about it that they'll trick you into giving to them."

"Enough! What gives you the right to tell me how I feel? Why should I listen to you instead of what have already decided myself?" The last comment hit too close to home, and Mitsuru's frustration was showing.

Her shadow just grins wickedly. "You are listening to yourself, because I'm you. Everything I've said has been what you were too scared to admit. You can lie to yourself, but I would never lie to you."

"That's impossible. I would never show such mistrust and disdain for the people around me as you just did. You're not me."

The shadow's laughter eventually becomes warped beyond recognition before finally ending. "No, I'm not you. I would never be a part of someone so weak. Not anymore, at least.

A/N: Please let me know if this chapter was as horrible as I think it is. I spent a long time glaring at the page wondering what to do. I'm not a very good judge of my own work, so I don't trust myself to accurately rate this on a scale of complete crap to maybe a C-.


End file.
